Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Can you tell I’m really trying here?

So. I finished listening to Kevin Henkes’ Billy Miller Makes a Wish a few weeks or so ago, and I meant to review it before now so that my youngest can read it while its predecessor is still relatively fresh in her mind. I confess, I don’t love Kevin Henkes’ chapter books as much as I love his picture books–although to be fair, I really, REALLY love quite a lot of his picture books–but the ‘Billy Miller’ books have a very genuine elementary-school-boy feel. In this sequel, Billy’s relationship with his younger sister is still varied and sometimes frustrating; he’s also feeling uncertain because of a neighborhood incident and his papa’s departure for art camp. The small vicissitudes of a child’s life mingle with the sorts of bigger events that loom especially large when we’re young, blending into a solid vignette of a family living, well, –life.

Bottom line? Worth offering to all elementary schoolers, but especially to boys. I think there’s now a book out about the little sister, though…